


how to go grocery shopping

by Anonymous



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Fluff, Grocery Store, M/M, Slice of Life, alternative universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-13
Updated: 2019-01-13
Packaged: 2019-10-09 12:50:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,644
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17407226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Jongin is a grown man, and he should be able to go grocery shopping on his own.





	how to go grocery shopping

**Author's Note:**

  * For [vertebris](https://archiveofourown.org/users/vertebris/gifts).



> Hello, dear Sweet!  
> You didn't have any works posted, so this, too, is a total shot in the dark and we hope you like this nonetheless <3  
> Thank you very much for helping us out!
> 
> love,  
> the mods

Jongin had a problem.

Well, he had a ton of problems, but one that was very apparent. Now if you asked the terribly handsome cashier at his preferred grocery store, that problem would be his absolute inability to properly weigh his fruits and vegetables.

If you asked Jongin, he'd say it was the terribly handsome cashier at his preferred grocery store.   
  


Really, no one had the right to look this good performing such a menial task in an ugly, salmon-colored uniform.

He just had such pretty, clear eyes, nice lips and his brows - they looked manly, rounding his appearance off perfectly, and the way they scrunched up just a little as he was concentrating, as he was looking for-

"Did you weigh this?"

Jongin blinked. Looked down at the bag of fresh tomatoes and then channeled his inner chameleon.

"Oh. Sorry," he mumbled, feeling flushed red already, and he hurried to take the tomatoes and rush off to the additional scale located at the second till.

Fine, maybe he did have a problem weighing his fruits and vegetables.

It was so uncommon though! Most other stores didn't require you to weigh them at all, and Jongin went to other stores a lot due to his long way to university.

When he returned with the small sticker carrying the barcode, the queue had gotten longer, and the cashier looked bored. Or slightly irritated.

God, he probably hated Jongin.

"I'm sorry..." Jongin trailed off, feeling the urge to hide himself in his oversized jacket. That was ugly, by the way. Why did he always forget this store had a cute cashier? And why did he make his job harder on top of that?

To his surprise, the other's expression relaxed a bit at that.

"It's alright," he said smoothly, with the smallest hint of a smile, and before Jongin had processed that, the final sum was showing up on the small screen.

"That'll be 13,45."

Jongin looked down to see that in the time he'd needed to weigh the tomatoes, the cashier had already scanned everything else, neatly placing it together on the conveyor belt.

"Right. Uhm. I'd like to pay by card, please."

While the receipt was being printed, Jongin glanced at the other's name tag.  _ Do _ . He wondered what kind of first name would go well with that.

 

Jongin didn't know what was more stupid - his inability to go grocery shopping on his own or his growing infatuation with a grocery store cashier he had honestly never spoken a word to. Aside from his increasingly sheepish apologies, that is.

He really tried to remember weighing the fresh vegetables, and sometimes he did. Well, most of the time he'd see the other's face from afar and hurry back to weigh his things. Or squeeze past the other customers to get to the scale on till 2. Cashier Do often worked at till 2, and Jongin wondered whether he even remembered him at all. Cashiers saw hundreds of faces very day, right? Not to mention that he was probably a part timer who had other things on his mind than barcodes and awkward stares.

Sometimes, Jongin considered forgetting to weigh his things on purpose, just to have him say something, but he really wanted to be liked by him, not annoy him. This left one question though.

How did one approach a grocery store cashier to become friends (or possibly more) without sounding pathetic and obnoxious?

Jongin couldn't help but think that if he was in the other's position, he'd feel annoyed, low-key molested and like his shift just got ruined. Unless... the cashier thought he was nice.

And he was interested in making friends.

And if he was into guys even a little, that would help, too.

Those were quite a lot of eventualities, to be honest, and also Jongin was a bit of a coward. A lot of a coward.   
  


He went to this particular grocery store more often now, and one day he even caught handsome boy's name - Kyungsoo. It suited his second name well, in his opinion.

Now he could just ignore this crush and move on, but a part of him really wanted to get closer to him. His best friend had teased him a bit about the entire thing but Sehun was ultimately very good-natured and kept bringing it up, asking if he had seen him again. If there was any progress. Why he wouldn't make a move.

"If I mess up, I can never enter this store again," Jongin moaned, ruffling his hair in frustration as he walked home with Sehun, carrying a bag of (perfectly weighed out) groceries.

"But if you never even try, it'll keep bothering you," Sehun replied. "Until one day, cute guy never shows up anymore and you'll keep wondering forever."

"I know, but..."

"He was kinda short, but cute," Sehun remarked, noisily slurping on the popsicle he'd bought. Jongin made a vague sound of suffering.

"I know-"

"Super smooth voice, too. I think he recognized you-"

"Fine!" Jongin yelled in exasperation, half-heartedly pushing Sehun away. "I'll think about it. Just. Stop, okay? Enough embarrassment for today."

"Fine, fine," Sehun relented, voice dropping to something much softer. "Nothing embarrassing about it though, okay?"

Jongin sighed and then ripped open his own popsicle with a little too much more vengeance than it probably deserved. He was too awkward for any of this.

 

He couldn't do this.

Jongin had been lounging around the freezers for at least ten minutes now, pretending to look for ice cream when in reality, he kept eyeing the tills. Kyungsoo was there. He'd thought this through, more than he'd like to admit, and he was prepared, but he was already blushing at the thought of doing this. Why didn't the freezers do a better job of cooling him down?

When the queue grew longer again, Jongin finally rowed himself in. He could do this. No problem. It wasn't that embarrassing, Sehun had said. If he didn't find him creepy, he might even dismiss it as adorable. That's what Sehun had said.

Jongin placed his articles on the conveyor belt. Eggs, noodles, flour, roasted nuts, and grapes. No instant food. He didn't want Kyungsoo to think he's only living off fast food. Especially not today.

He stared at the grapes, chewing on his lip a little. Kyungsoo was working on till 2 today, and he looked a little tired.

Oh god, he'd ruin his day.

Jongin was still fighting his internal battle when it was his turn, and Kyungsoo shot him a small smile.

"Good evening," he said, and then his dexterous fingers were already sliding the articles across the scanner in record time. He stopped at the grapes, turning them to look for a little sticker, and then exhaled visibly in something akin to exasperation. Friendly exasperation. Probably.

He was about to turn and weigh them by himself - it was only two steps to the scale for him, but Jongin hastily took the item out of his hands.

"I'm sorry," he said a little too loudly. "I'll do it!"

His heart was beating way too fast while the little sticker was printed. Instead of putting it on the grapes, he put it on a piece of paper and handed it to the cashier. That way, he was bound to see the back of the sticker as he scanned it. By the way his eyes widened, Jongin was instantly sure that he'd seen the numbers he'd scrawled on them.

Jongin didn't even dare looking him in the eye as he accepted his change and fled the store.

 

He refused to even look at his phone for the rest of the evening and only checked it before going to bed. No message.

Well. At least there was no harm done. He hadn't embarrassed Kyungsoo in public and he had only mildly embarrassed himself in front of  _ one  _ stranger, and not the entire store. That was something, Jongin told himself while he cringed himself to sleep. Why did he have to be like that?

 

Jongin refused to show up at the store for the next two weeks and had almost come to terms with the fact that he had to change his favourite chocolate brand that wasn't available elsewhere, when he got a message one Thursday afternoon.

 

_ Hi _

_ You gave me your number a while back _

_ I don't know if you remember _

 

Jongin stared at his phone in shock, temporarily drowning out the noise of the other passengers on the train. He waited a total of two minutes before he couldn't take it anymore.

 

_ of course I do _

_ i don't do that every day, you know? _

 

That sounded a little too aggressive and forward for his liking, but adding more would only make things more awkward. Jongin was suffering  _ already _ .

 

_ That's good to know or I'd be feeling very stupid now _

 

Jongin exhaled in relief. He wasn't taking it badly. Good.

 

_ I was gonna see whether you'd return but you didn't... _

_ If you're still interested, I get off at ten this week. _

_ I'm not really the texting type _

 

Oh. Was this really happening? Was it really that easy?

Before he could reply, another message popped up.

 

_ I'm just talking about getting dinner _

_ Obviously _

 

_ Yeah, obviously _ , Jongin typed back, laughing a little to himself. He was so nervous, it was almost hilarious.

 

_ i could be there at ten today _

_ if it's not a bother _

 

The reply came almost immediately.   
  


_ Of course not. _

  
Jongin made an awkward, giddy sound and probably looked like he was in pain, going by the looks the others shot him.

It was a date! He had a date, and on such short notice. He had to really think this through-

Another message popped up, interrupting his train of thoughts.

 

_ So, are you gonna start weighing your fruits from now on, or...? _


End file.
